Saving Regina Mills
by L. J. McMahon
Summary: Takes place directly after the season 2 finale. When Regina is kidnapped, she reaches out to Emma for help but Emma must make a difficult choice. Eventual, romantic Swan Queen. In depth examination of Hook's character as well, and a new take on the story of Peter Pan. Updates will be every Monday.
1. Chapter 1

Moving Shadows

Everyone looked on in shock as Emma went flying through the air. Her arms flailing as she was pushed backward by an invisible force. The gust only carried her so far before gravity began to violently pull her toward the deck of the _Jolly Roger_. With a painfully loud crack, Emma landed, her back colliding with the wood.

Charming and Snow rushed to their crumpled daughter, Hook following slightly behind them; Gold only limped toward Regina who stood there like a waning hurricane. She was soaked through with sea water, her hair swirling in a violent and magical wind around her head, her eyes locked on Emma and pricked with angry tears.

"Well, Dearie, once again your impetuous use of magic has hindered our ability to find _my _grandson," Gold scolded. Regina didn't look in his direction but a fresh stream of tears found its way down her cheeks.

Propping herself up on her elbows, Emma addressed the woman who had tossed her carelessly across the ship.

"God-damn-it, Regina!" With those last words, Emma collapsed backward and slid into an ominously silent sleep.

**X**

When Emma woke up she felt, frozen, unable to connect her mind to her limbs and so unbearably cold that it felt as if white–hot flames licked at her skin.

"I'm sorry." A hollow, defeated apology came from somewhere within her mind. Or was it coming from outside of her muddled brain? She couldn't tell. Finally, something other than the backs of her eyelids came into view. She was below deck on the _Jolly Roger_, in the lower bunk. She looked around but all she saw were shadows. They weren't like other shadows, anchored by the laws of physics. They danced around the room, constantly changing to rest on a different surface. Something had been odd about the shadows since the ship passed through the portal—something Emma had noticed—they were almost sentient.

"I'm so sorry…" the voice chimed again, this time echoing as if the sound waves were being interrupted by different obstacles, traveling a great distance. Now, Emma was able to identify the sultry voice.

"Regina?"

"…but, I didn't do it," she finished.

Emma felt cold and unnaturally immobile, it scared her. She didn't have room in her mind to argue with Regina's decapitated voice and she certainly had no room in her heart to give Regina yet another chance to undo her horrible deeds. She sighed and stared intently at the bunk above her as the memory snuck in upon her reluctant mind like one of those mysterious shadows. They had been fighting…

**X**

_Regina advanced upon Emma, stepping into her personal space and bending her head so far forward that their skin nearly touched. Emma took a step backward. _

"_There are no showers, there is no toothpaste, not a hair comb in sight! I'm a _Queen _I am not meant to live like this! And you," Regina launched forward again, backing Emma against the far wall, "you decide that sending me for a swim would be a good idea?!" Emma couldn't believe how ridiculous this argument was. _

_The close confines had been weighing on everyone. Regina was being constantly reprimanded by the Charmings and Emma constantly had to argue on everyone's behalf: never quite feeling like she belonged on any side. They had traveled three days and two nights without food or water. There was no getting dry on the _Jolly Roger_. A constant damp hung about the walls and on everyone's clothes. Once the moisture penetrated their bones, and the smell ripened, no one had any desire to uphold their original rules of civil cohabitation. Even Snow and David were at each other's throats, arguing about whose fault it was that Henry was stolen as The Savior and The Evil Queen disabled the fail-safe. Emma and Regina, naturally, found many reasons to fight, or rather, Regina did, and Emma quickly tired of trying to be the bigger person. So, it didn't help when Regina tripped and fell toward the seawater right as Emma was standing near her. Of course, The Queen assumed mal-intent on the part of The Savior. Regina was saved though, when, with a bellowing laugh and the toss of rope, Hook reeled her in like a dead fish. _

"_I told you, I didn't push you in the water! Why would I?!" Emma ducked around Regina's form and turned her back to the door of the cabin causing The Evil Queen to be backed against the wall. _

"_Who knows? Why do you always insist on claiming the moral high-ground when it comes to our son? Why were you so willing to leave me behind in Storybrook, to die alone? I don't know why you do the things you do or why you are so good at underestimating my intelligence. You have made bending ethical boundaries into an art form. For all I know you simply thought it would be an easy way to dispose of me!" _

"_I bend ethical boundaries? You're one to talk, you're like some of the vindictive foster parents I've had, except on steroids." This all seemed terribly repetitive to Emma. "Why do I feel like we are back on your front porch, before the curse broke?! Is that really all you have left, Regina? Haven't we both moved past this? I'm not stupid enough to assume pushing you over the edge of a ship, full of people, into calm water would get rid of you, now _you're_ the one who is underestimating _my_ intelligence. I would never try and hurt Henry like that …and you know that! And I wouldn't have left you in Storybrook: that was my parents' idiotic plan. Would you like me to hold _you_ accountable for all of _your_ mother's actions?!"_

"_My mother… she…" Emma couldn't help but notice the progress their relationship had made; Rather than scold her for mentioning Cora, Regina decided to continue with the conversation, albeit an angry one. _

"_She what, Regina? Was a murderer, and a heartless witch—literally?!"_

"_She cared about me…and Henry! Besides, we _were_ past this and then you decided I needed to take a dip in mermaid-infested waters!"_

_That made Emma hesitate. "Mermaids?" _

"_Yes, Emma, Mermaids. What kind of stories did you read as a child? We _are _in Neverland after all." Regina spread her arms to indicate their surroundings and then she let them flop back to her sides in exasperation. "And they're not quite as benevolent as has been portrayed on the big screen." She stated, matter-of-fact. _

_For a brief minute, before continuing their dialogue, all Emma could focus on was the fact that Regina had addressed her by her first name. They certainly were making progress. _

"_What do you mean 'not as benevolent'? They're evil?"_

"_They feed off of magic. My scent, in that water, is like a drop of blood to a shark. And the ship could have been surrounded by cannibalistic fish!" Her previously diminishing anger returned._

"_Even if I did push you, which, I didn't! How would I know that?"_

_Regina considered that and paused to reign in her emotions. "I don't believe you would have known that…."_

_Emma waited._

"_I'm sorry, Emma…for snapping at you. I shouldn't have done that. I'm…" _

"_It's ok." She couldn't help but be amazed at how quickly Regina was now able to diffuse her anger, to actually listen. And that's why it came as such a surprise when her thoughts of fondness were disrupted by a powerful force pushing against her chest, sending her flying through the cabin door. _

**X**

Emma shook off the memory.

"Of course you did," she finally gives in, "no one else was in the cabin and no one else has that kind of power. The one thing I can't figure out is why. Why did you do it, Regina?" She sounded betrayed.

"I didn't," the voice was pleading.

Emma could barely focus. "Why am I so cold? This ship is always muggy…?" Emma couldn't see where Regina's voice was coming from but, the blanket from the bunk opposite her—Regina's bunk—floated off the bed and landed over her shivering frame.

"A splinter from the cabin door pierced the back of your scalp when you landed on the deck…you lost a lot of blood. But, it's not my fault."

"You keep saying that…."

"Because it's true…just like…. It wasn't you're fault when I was pushed into the water."

Emma couldn't help but scoff. "And, what makes you suddenly believe me? Guilt?"

"I have nothing to feel guilty about!"

Emma finally regained control of her body movements. She tried to look around the room only to feel a sharp pain shoot down her neck. It traveled, agonizingly, all the way to her toes. "Are you in my head? Because, I can't see you anywhere."

"I'm not in your head; Look closer."

"Look closer? Where?"

"Just look closer. Use your magic to sense my presence."

Emma carefully adjusted her head to face the opposite bunk. Staring at the space across from her, a translucent Regina slowly focused into view. "Oh my God! Are you dead? Did my parents kill you?"

"As if you would care, seeing as _I_ apparently tried to_ kill_ _you_." She stood, awkwardly, with her hands behind her back like a child about to ask a particularly difficult question of an adult. It was so unlike Regina, rather than confident it was compromised.

"Regina?"

"No. I'm not dead, and I didn't throw you across the deck."

"Then who did?"

"The same person or thing that threw me into the water."

"Which would be…?"

"I don't know and I can't investigate, now that your parents have dumped me on this island."

"What? Dumped you on an island? What's going on? Why do you look like a ghost?"

"I'm projecting my consciousness out of my body and toward you. It's a difficult trick but there is so much magic in this land, I can feel it, like blood being transfused into my veins."

"Why not just come to me?"

"Because, as I said, I have been exiled by your parents." Regina looked back suddenly at an imaginary threat and then turned again to face Emma. "We don't have much more time; They will hear what I am saying to you." Her voice was urgent.

"Well then tell me what's going on before 'they' find out!"

Regina spoke quickly. "Your parents also believed that I threw you across the ship, they felt I was a danger to the mission. They tossed me onto a small piece of land in the middle of the sea, barely even an island but, then _they_ found me, in their ridiculous rafts."

"Who?"

Regina ignored her question. "You have to make sure they don't find you, you have to find Henry. If they find you, you won't stand a chance. The clock is ticking. I can hear it in my mind…ticking. You have to hurry. Save Henry."

Emma knew at that moment, hearing the woman's desperation, that Regina had not tried to hurt her. She couldn't believe she would ever think Regina would do something to upset the search for Henry. Unfortunately, her parents had not had the same thought, and they didn't consider how Henry would feel about their choice to abandon his mother.

"I know it wasn't you…. I will find you. I can't save Henry alone."

"Thank you for the vote-of-confidence but, there is nothing you can do for me now, they are using me as a trap, to distract you, and they must be working with whoever threw you across the deck. They anticipated my power of projection, it's far too coincidental that it's one of the only spells I am able to cast; they must have known that I would tell you I was in danger. However, they overestimated the degree of my selfishness. I'm not begging you to save me; I'm begging you _not_ to."

It had all been set up from the beginning, Emma realized. Regina was pushed into the water, causing a fight that would indicate Regina's culpability, and then, when the time was right, something or someone made it look like Regina had given into her violent impulses. Whoever or whatever it was, they knew the Charmings and Regina inside and out, they knew Regina would be exiled.

"Can you try and escape, with all the magic you said is in this land, it should be easy."

"Yes, there is more magic in this land, and they have more experience using it. It's an old spell, one that I've only ever read about. They harvested palm fronds—from a tree that is older than me—they stripped them and weaved the strands into magical rope, which they then used to tie me to the trunk of the very same palm. Because, the tree is older than me, it possesses more strength and magic, it is the perfect way to immobilize me."

"Wait, are the trees alive here? Can they talk, like in The Wizard of Oz?"

"Alive, just as the trees in your world are but, no, not sentient. Powerful, though, like homeopathic herbs, in your world, can be powerful and healing. I was in Oz once, the trees _are _sentient, but they are all talk and no bark—if you catch my meaning and they produce the most disgustingly sour apples you have ever tasted." Regina scrunched her nose with arrogance.

"Wow." Emma was so amazed she almost forgot about the issue at hand.

"Emma! I don't have much more time, they are coming!"

"How did 'they' have time to do all of that? Why didn't you escape?"

"Your parents had Gold put a magical barrier around the island to keep me here—until they found Henry—a sort-of magical, barbed-wire fence. I could have disabled it eventually, but, then _they _found me. Their magic is stronger than mine, I couldn't fight them, they are so much older than me, so much older." She looked back again, anxiously.

"Who is _they_?!" Emma was frustrated; she couldn't understand why Regina was ignoring her question.

"I have to go; They are coming to check on me."

"Regina, who is _they_?!"

"The Lost Boys."

Emma had heard of them of course, but, she always thought of them as innocent. In fact, Emma always thought she was a bit of a lost girl herself, growing up in the foster system. What did Regina mean, they were older than her?

Regina spoke again, but not to Emma, she was looking at something beyond the blonde. "I've just called my friends. You have no idea who you are dealing with, they will be here to rescue me soon enough." Regina's ethereal form evanesced into the stale air of the cabin and then she was gone.

"Regina?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for all the follows! Unfortunately, this chapter does not have much Swan Queen in it but, is more about forwarding the story. So, I will be uploading a Swan Queen one-shot mid-week to make up for the lack in this chapter. Just keep in mind that it will be a separate storyline from this one. If you are a fan of Hook, Charming or Rumple then this is a chapter for you. I'm also on vacation in the OBX so I didn't do my usual last read through before updating, I apologize for any mistakes I missed. I cannot take credit for the name I assigned the Wicked Witch of the West ("Momba") I took it from a favorite film of mine the 1910 silent picture _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz _directed by Otis Turner.**

**The rating is "M" mainly for sex and violence in **_**later chapters**_**, right now it's more of a "T." Please, please, PLEASE review, ask questions, give constructive criticism, tell me what you guys want to see. Thanks, again!**

**P.S. Some have expressed their concern that this is not a Swan Queen romantic story because they misread in the original description when I said it will explore _Snow_ Queen (Snow White & Regina) as a friendship/familial relationship. Let me clear this up by saying this story IS most definitely a _romantic_ Swan Queen story. Thanks!**

Meaner than a Crocodile

Hook stared at his pocket watch.

Charming was looking at him. "It's broken."

"I know," Hook responded, "I _am_ the one who broke it, after all."

"So why look at it?"

"It might not tell time but, it tells me what I need to know."

There was something far too final in Hook's tone to prompt a response from David, so he simply walked to the other end of the ship and left the pirate to his thoughts.

It wasn't until the sun began to set that everyone reconvened to discuss the mission.

"Our biggest issue will be the Lost Boys," Hook explained.

The Charmings truly had no idea as to the dangers of _Neverland._

"Aren't they just young boys?" Snow asked solemnly. "Abandoned?"

"They are abandoned but they are far from young."

"What do you mean?" Charming grew more concerned as he saw Hook's urgency.

"_Neverland_ is a beautiful place…a tropical and magical place…more magical than most other lands. But, it's also a place where no one foreign ever _physically_ ages. Can't you feel it? The minute we travelled through the portal did you not feel trapped in a loop? Didn't the first morning you woke in this land feel like you hadn't woken up at all?"

The Charmings considered that. Gold simply stood there with a look of omniscience, he must have already known everything.

"Yes…" said Snow.

"But, you never grow old, isn't that the appeal? You can be a child forever." David asked.

"_Physically _a child, not emotionally or intellectually. It's not as pleasant as was depicted in the storybooks of the other land. It's, decidedly, more grim…if you'll pardon the pun."

"Fine but, if these are children physically, what threat do they pose to us?"

"Their magic is very strong…and, as the case is in many other lands, with age, one's magic becomes stronger."

"But they don't age."

Gold decided to chime in. "You weren't listening closely enough, Dearie. They _do_ age _emotionally_. And, magic comes from emotion, as you well know."

"There is no group of children more emotionally scarred than those Lost." Hook sounded almost sympathetic. Little did his present company know, what he was feeling was far closer to _empathy._ "They were abandoned in their original worlds and promised things that were never delivered to them: perpetual childhood and unconditional love. Not only were they abandoned again, left without a guide in this strange place but, they quickly became bitter adults trapped in the prison of immature bodies."

"That's so horrible," Snow commented.

"More than…," Hook finished.

"Who? Who promised them all these things?"

"Peter Pan," Hook answered with disgust. He then shot a hateful glace at Gold, "he is more evil than even a _crocodile._"

Gold remained unfazed. "Well, that is quite evil isn't it?"

"What world are they from?" asked Charming.

"Several worlds, each of them were plucked individually from their orphanages or the streets or trash cans…. Some are from Oz, some from Wonderland, some from Earth…."

"So how are they all magical?"

"Every world has children of magic; some worlds just hide it better."

"Why, of all the orphans in all the worlds, why these boys, why _just_ boys?"

"Each of them is exponentially powerful, each for different reasons. They are not all boys, that is just their title," Hook explained, "given to them by a man from Earth."

"Yes, J.M Barrie, I used to teach him to my students," Snow offered.

"Barrie was just boy himself when he was taken by Pan. When he introduced his brother's storyline, he spoke about his own figurative abandonment, his mother's illness, in a patriarchal society; well, it was only the Lost _Boys_ that were relevant to him."

"So there are Lost Girls as well?"

"You might have even heard of some who were once lost…a little green girl from Oz, a female dragon. Most famously, a girl named Wendy. Somewhat of a maternal figure for Barrie when he was Lost…." Hook was solemn.

They all shuddered at the mention of Momba—The Wicked Witch of the West—and Maleficent who they had all had the horror of meeting, one way or the other.

"But, The Witch, The Dragon, they are adults."

"Yes, they were some of the most powerful children and eventually, they escaped, returned home and grew into powerful adults."

"And went on to terrorize and destroy."

"It's all they knew how to do."

Killian "Hook" Jones, for all his bravado and chauvinism sounded undeniably broken. His companions stared at him curiously until Snow broke the silence.

"Isn't Peter just a boy himself?" asked Snow.

"No, he was when Jimmy knew him…. He is a man now, a two-hundred-year-old man in the body of a thirty-year-old prince; One of the only original_ Riam_ and a royal." Hook didn't seem to notice his slip but, everyone else did.

"'Jimmy?' Pirate, who is that?" Gold asked.

David "Charming" felt anything but fond of Hook and yet he felt the desire to save the man who looked, momentarily, like a scared boy. And so, he changed the subject.

"Riam?"

Hook was grateful for the distraction and answered David. "Natives of _Neverland_. They were a horrible race, incestuous, cannibalistic…. So, they died out, killed by their own bloodlust. Except for a few. The Royal family of Riaman being those few. Peter Pan, whose actual name is Piceli Pan Riaman VIII is the direct prince to the line, ruler of _Neverland_. Although, I'm afraid, his little-known impotence will doom him to being the last of his race.

"I'm curious, _Pirate_…" began Gold.

"Yes, _Crocodile?_"

"What are the aging effects of the land on the Riam?"

"They age but slowly. If it had to be calculated, I would say they age one year within the time span of every seven years in other lands."

"And they are our 'biggest issue'?"

"Yes, they have eyes everywhere. In the trees, in the water, and on the land, they are the rulers of _Neverland_. That's why Peter has collected them, power, control and…"

"And what, Pirate?"

"Youth. With each passing year, Peter is aging less and less. Soon he will possess the immortality of all his captives. He doesn't tell them, but, he picks a child, and each year sucks a bit of their youth away with his magic."

"But, youth is all they have."

"Yes, so one day, the child just falls down dead. No one but Peter knows why. The child simply falls over and stops breathing. The other children burry their brother or sister deep under the sand in the woods and cry themselves to sleep…." Hook tried desperately to keep a tear from sliding down his rough face and barely succeeded.

After a moment of silence Gold asked, "and Barrie, Wendy, what happened to them?"

"They fell in love. Somewhat oedipal, I know…and then they tried to escape…."

"But?"

"Peter found them, stopped them."

"But they did escape…?"

"No, they were let go. Peter had had a few children escape previously. Word was spreading that he was evil and force to be destroyed. So, like any good politician, he decided to employ some positive propaganda."

"_Peter Pan_."

"Yes. Peter let them go with the promise that they would write a story about _Neverland_ it could be interpreted in whatever way they wished as long as it depicted the prince as someone benevolent and friendly."

"How could Peter be sure they did so once they were free?"

Hook hesitated.

"A contractual spell, that bound them to magically return to _Never_land if they didn't do so and also…. Never mind."

"Hook—Killian, you must tell us everything…for Henry's sake." Charming's voice was kind.

"He also sent them home with one of his most trusted boys, someone who would not betray his wishes—even when out of his sight—someone who had been with him far too long to remember he was once the villain of the Boy's story."

"Who?"

"I don't know…," Hook lied.

They all stared at each other. Then Charming remembered something Hook had said.

"They have eyes everywhere, land, sea and air? They are sort of like Pan's army?"

"Yes. The most powerful orphans to ever exist."

"They are not always orphans, though, are they, Dearie?" Gold asked.

"Not always in a literal sense, no."

The Charmings realized with horror just where their grandson was.

"Henry is with…" David began.

"Most likely," Hook finished. "He is a powerful boy, able to perceive the imperceptible…he has grandparent's that are the paragons of True Love, was born of a powerful girl, and was raised by an even more powerful woman. Heroes and villains alike will compromise and combine their powers just to save_ him_," Hook gestured to the group. "He is a perfect fit for the Lost Boys."

Snow was fuming.

She clenched her hands together in tight fists. "The Lost Boys, Peter Pan, they have Henry…! And, what do Greg and Tamara have to do with this?! What do they gain from helping Peter Pan…?"

Charming grabbed his wife's shoulder tightly.

"That is a question I am not able to answer, Princess." Hook's voice was, uncharacteristically, gentle.

"And we mustn't toil with questions we cannot answer, Dearies. We need get our grandson back."

Gold looked at Hook as if, he was including him in that statement and the pirate wondered just how much Baelfire had told the Crocodile about their past relationship.

They all considered that and seemed to silently agree. No one, in the ridiculous mix of travelers, knew what to say after the revelation. They all—The Prince, The Huntress, The Dark One and The Pirate—villains and heroes felt the weight of their duty.

"…We must rest if we are able to combat these _children_," Gold broke the silence, "we can discuss tactics in the morning?"

David and Snow hesitated and then looked at each other, silently communicating.

David answered him. "Yes, we have to go check on Emma anyway..."

**X**

_I've just called my friends. You have no idea who you are dealing with, they will be here to rescue me soon enough._

That is what Regina had said but Emma knew it was a lie. A lie Regina had told to protect everyone but herself, to protect the search for Henry. Emma was distraught; her former enemy had once again chosen to be selfless and, Emma feared, this time she wouldn't be able to go back and save her. Henry or Regina, that was her choice and there was no question as to whom she would choose. Still, it was more difficult to make than she had ever imagined.

"Emma?" She heard Charming's voice as he stepped through the make-shift cabin door—two pieces of tattered canvas.

It must have been night because, no light streamed in behind her parents.

"David—Dad? Mom?"

"Oh, Emma! You're awake." Snow rushed to her said and sat beside her.

"Yeah…. How long was I out?"

"Just the evening." Charming answered. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore but, I'll survive." She scowled.

"That's all we need." Snow smiled down at her daughter.

Mother and daughter stared at each other for a moment—as they often did—simply enjoying the new experience of seeing each other and knowing each other.

Snow finally spoke. "I'm sorry Regina did this to you. What were you even fighting about?"

"Nothing really…. Just, y'know her thinking I pushed her off the ship. And something about a hair brush…."

Snow narrowed her eyes. "A hair brush?"

"It doesn't matter now." Emma tried to move her head slightly and then shrunk back from the pain.

"I'm sorry."

"Mom, you're not the one who threw me, stop apologizing."

"I'm sorry."

Emma rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe she snapped like that…," David said.

It took Emma a moment to realize what he meant. "She didn't." She stated it with certainty.

"What?"

"I don't think it was her that threw me across the ship…."

"Emma, you hit your head pretty hard…"

"You have to trust me, she didn't do it. I was there…. Plus, she just explained the whole thing to me…."

"Emma…you must have been dreaming, she's not even on the ship anymore; We exiled her."

Emma opened her mouth.

"Before you protest, we plan on getting her back once we've found Henry. We just didn't want her unpredictable emotions to get in the way of saving him…."

"I know all of this, she told me!"

Her parents looked apologetic.

"I'm not mad at you, I know you made…you made what you thought was the best decision at the time…. Regardless, we need to talk…."

"We have something to tell you as well…but, maybe when you are feeling a bit more…" Snow struggled to find the right word, "_awake_."

"No, we need to talk now. I am _awake_."

They tried to protest but, Emma began. "It wasn't a dream, I saw Regina. Have you ever heard of a power or a trick called 'projection'?"

Snow looked like she did but kept her jaw tightly locked while she decided how to proceed. "That's how me and Regina used to communicate when I was a little girl," She admitted.

"You used to telepathically communicate with Regina?"

"We were close once, David."

"I know."

"I think Emma is telling the truth…." She decided.

Snow reached up to wipe her daughter's sweating brow. "Leave me to talk with her."

"Ok." Charming didn't argue. He'd learned a long time ago to trust the instincts of both his wife and daughter.

"Wait!" Emma stopped her father from leaving. "What is it you guys have to tell me?"

David looked to his wife.

"…There is a great force that we must contend with…to save Henry." Snow answered.

"Well that makes two, because there is someone holding Regina captive as a distraction to us. What is this _force_?"

"Who is holding Regina captive?" David asked.

"_The Lost Boys_." Emma and Snow answered in unison.

Emma looked at Snow in horror.

Snow smiled sadly at her daughter. "There are many of them, Emma, all over the island…. Emma? Emma, why are you crying?"

Emma reached up to touch her cheek and, to her surprise, she felt tears tickle her fingertips.

"Mary—Mom, we need to talk about Regina…."

Snow waved her husband away and once he had left Emma told her all that had happened.

**X**

"So, Pirate, what land are you from?"

Gold walked up on Hook who was standing at the helm. Neither could sleep and Hook opted to pretend to steer his ship in the dead air.

"Surely even you picked up a storybook in Maine, Crocodile. I'm Captain Hook, I am the evil, one handed pirate of _Neverland_."

"But, you weren't always. And you are not a Riam, Hook."

"What's your point?"

"Answer my question…."

"I am originally from Earth. Leeds, England."

"And how old were you when Peter took you from your bed, Pirate?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Crocodile." Hook's voice was acidic.

"Yes you do, My Boy…. Or should I say 'Lost Boy'?"

Hook shot a menacing glance toward Gold before relenting. The Crocodile had figured him out anyway. "I was thirteen, as were Jimmy and Wendy."

"Yes but, they arrived after you?"

"A great deal after. But, they were my friends, my only solace."

Hook turned bright red upon the realization that he had just revealed so much to his sworn enemy. A man whom he shared many a begrudged similarity to.

When the pirate turned away in shame Gold couldn't help but exploit his vulnerability. "And is that the sob story that you told _my_ wife when she spoke to you? Did your childish honesty warm her heart? Did it get her in your bed?"

The Pirate turned on his leather heels and flew toward Rumple Stiltskin. Grabbing for the imp's neck, he screamed in his face as his spit flew and his skin became hot. "Leave Milah out of this!"

Rumple simply waved his hand and Hook flew into the wheel behind him. Straightening his suit jacket, Gold began to walk away.

"She never knew," Hook said quietly behind him, "she had such a simple view of the world, so innocent; I couldn't bear to tell her."

Gold stopped and turned back to the pirate. He lost his composure for the first time. "She was far from innocent and we both know it, _Pirate_! You couldn't bear to tell her that her one true love wasn't any better than her deserter husband!" Gold's voice became dangerously low. "You wouldn't dare tell her that your crimes far exceeded piracy." When he finished Gold turned back and limped toward his bunk.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm so sorry, this chapter is so very late! I've made this chapter double the size of the others, however, to make up for my tardiness and it also has much more Swan Queen in it than the last did. Please, please review and ask questions! Thanks so much! **

Iron Shoes

Had she made the right decision?

It was something Regina had been pondering ever since she contacted Emma. Being bound to the tree and left to her own thoughts gave her far too much time to stew over her past choices. The adrenalin swam through her blood making it boil and yet there was nothing she could do about it. Her desire to save Henry, her self-loathing no longer had an outlet and her body practically shivered against its painful confinement.

She _had_ made the right decision, she resolved. All those times Emma had saved her, had put her life on the line for her meant one thing: if Emma didn't know where Regina was, she would be angry with her parents and then, inevitably, come to find her. At least, this way, Emma knew where she was and knew _not_ to come after her.

**X**

Snow had spent most of the week on the rocky seas tending to her broken daughter, broken on the inside and the outside. Emma had tried to hide it, naturally, but Snow saw the pain that burdened her daughter.

But now, Emma was finally back on her feet and, while the emotional damage of not being able to save Regina for Henry's sake and for her own did not dissipate, it took the back burner to saving her son. Still, she held out hope for Regina's survival, if the Lost Boys had captured Henry _and _Regina maybe the two wouldn't be as far away from each other as was originally thought. And the stubborn savior in Emma told her that maybe, just maybe, she could save them _both_.

Emma sat up on the bunk and sipped her beer trying to wash down the hard-tack and the lemon slices.

"Do you think you're ready to look at the map Hook has drawn up?" Snow entered the cabin.

"Sure," Emma agreed, between bites.

Snow sat on the opposite bunk and unrolled the thick paper in her lap. "So, this is their base…," she pointed.

"A tree house?"

"A tree _city_," Snow corrected.

Emma examined the complex map and huffed in frustration. "How are we going to do this?" She was already exasperated. "They're everywhere…."

"Not _everywhere_…, they have _some_ eyes in the water but, mostly, that is not _their_ domain. The Mermaids control the sea."

"But…Regina said they're evil…."

"Maybe evil yes but, _not_ allies with the Lost Boys…that's all we need."

"That and our own cozy relationship with magic-sucking sea creatures…."

"Hook says he knows one, says that she might be able to help." Snow was hopeful. "Still…," she sighed, "it would be easier if we had Re—" Snow stopped herself.

"I know," Emma agreed anyway.

"We were so impulsive when we—"

"Mary-Margret—Mom, stop. It's o.k. You made what you thought was the best decision at the time you and David, you guys are under a lot a pressure we all are and,…you had no way of knowing the Lost Boys would find her…Hook, he…he should have said something!"

Snow nodded her solemn agreement. "I really do think he wants to help us…it's just, something, this _land_ it changes him, he's…he's been distant. I'm sure he didn't even consider it as it was happening. Or…or he didn't want to undermine me and your father."

"I suppose," Emma muttered.

"I wonder just what _kind_ of relationship he has with this mermaid…," Snow mused.

Emma scowled.

They sat in an agreeable silence while they both struggled with their own internal worries. Emma stared at the wall behind her mother sandwiched between two, wood bunks. The light that flickered weakly from an oil lamp in the corner danced over her pale features. The oil would burn out soon.

_Hook mentioned that once the oil in the lamps burned away we would be on the shores of _Neverland_, _Emma thought, _it's coming, the day we will have to fight, have to find Henry…_ _'have to fly, have to save Jack!' _Emma laughed out loud at her own joke.

"What?" Snow asked when she was yanked from her thoughts.

"Nothing just—" Emma laughed again.

"What?" Snow couldn't contain her smile.

"You know that movie _Hook_?"

Snow just looked confused.

Emma laughed, this time at her own mother's ignorance. "You know, for a fairy-tale character you really don't know much about fairy-tales and their adaptations."

"This _Hook_, I'm assuming, is based on _Peter Pan_?"

Emma nodded.

"Well then," Snow corrected, _"Peter Pan_ is _not_ a fairy tale."

"Yeah whatever, Disney made a version."

Snow giggled. "So what's so funny about _Hook_ anyway?"

"Well, I mean nothing…it's a funny movie at times, I mean _sad and_ funny but, I just thought it was funny because I thought that we 'have to save Henry, have to this, have to that…' and there is this line in the movie, this famous line, 'have to fly, have to save Jack' and I can't even remember who said it, somebody mocking this old, like," she stared up at the ceiling, "washed-up, Robin Williams Peter Pan who can't remember how to fly and he has to save is son, who is with Hook in this net, in the _air_…," Emma trailed off. Suddenly, she wasn't finding it so funny after all. Tears formed in her eyes and she looked at Snow. "Mom," she whined, "what if…what if I can't fly?"

Snow jumped up and engulfed her sobbing daughter into a hug.

**X**

Emma stared out at the calm sea. She wondered if it was mocking her. It was so still and clear and beautiful and her life at the moment, well, it was murky and choppy.

The sun was rising above the ever-approaching cluster of Islands. There was land that dotted the entirety of the sea that surrounded them, during their whole journey, small islands and thick trees but nothing quite as magnificent as what Emma assumed was the heart of _Neverland_. Palm forests and sand as fine as bleached flour.

Everyone else was scattered about the large ship: Charming sharpening his sword at the stern, Hook was at the helm steering, Snow and Rumple were quietly discussing their tactics below deck. Emma was alone at the bow. She stood, wondering if she would ever see Regina again.

"What do you remember about _Snow White? _The story, I mean."

Emma jumped at the voice that cut through the silence of the morning. Regina. She whipped her head around and saw the woman's ghostly figure.

While Emma gaped at her she continued. "I'm sorry to startle you, I just, I would like to know what you've heard of my fate, in the tales of your land."

"You…," Emma finally managed, "I thought the last time that we..." She didn't know how to say it.

"Yes?"

"I thought that was it. The last time we spoke was _the last time_."

"Me too," Regina stated calmly. "But, as things go…here I am." She ran her fingers through her hair.

She ran her fingers through her hair…. "Before you were tied up…did you…? Are you free?" Emma sounded painfully hopeful.

"No."

"Then how…?"

"I don't really know. I must be getting better at controlling my ethereal form. My body _is_ tied to that tree but, my mind isn't…. I was so angry, so scared and then…well, it took me here, that fear brought me to you…I suppose…."

Emma considered that.

"So what do you remember?"

"Huh?" Emma was still processing everything.

"About _Snow White_?"

"Oh…uh…I…uh…." She took a few moments to reflect before she answered. " The kiss, the glass coffin…Sneezy?"

Regina huffed in frustration. "No, about _me_ in the story."

"Oh, well, you…The Evil Queen…I used to think that the old lady she dressed as was really cute and even though she was bad and everything I still felt sad when…" she was rambling.

"How do I—how does _The Evil Queen_ die?"

"She, like, the dwarves they chase her off a cliff or something."

"Is that the only version you've heard or seen?"

"No…well, I asked Belle about it once and she told me that in the original the Queen went to Snow White's wedding and she…danced to death? Hey, if you ask me…that's not such a bad way to go."

"In iron shoes," Regina corrected.

"What?"

"She was forced to wear red-hot iron shoes and dance in them until she died from the pain."

"_Shit_."

"Yes. 'Shit,' indeed."

"Look, Regina, I…I thought I would never see you again and now, now you're here asking about Disney cartoons what is…what's the point of all of this?"

"The point is," Regina stepped closer and Emma shivered at the proximity, "no matter what version you read…I die." Regina glowered at her.

"Not you!" Emma was adamant. "The Evil Queen, she, she's fake." Emma shook her head wildly.

"No, she's _right here_." Regina waved her traced her hand over her body.

Emma stared at her and her always sad face, those chocolate eyes and all she saw was Regina. "Yeah, well, if you follow that formula I would have never been born."

"Sure you would have."

Emma looked lost.

"A man and a woman in love marry in a land of monarchy under a pretense people in your land would call 'medieval', it's assumed they will have a child."

"Good to know I am assumed," Emma joked…. "Fine," she conceded, "but, Henry wouldn't have been…"

Regina stared at her.

"Come-on, the child of thieves, born out of wed-lock, adopted…son of skinny foster kid and cowardly spawn of Rumple Stiltskin, who—"

"I suppose…," Regina finally cut her off.

"And Snow White was not nearly as kick-ass as Mary-Margret is…so…."

Regina smirked at that and then quickly darkened again. "Yes, but the basic story remains."

"No. Not in our version," Emma stated with certainty.

Regina noticed the look of determination and danger in her eyes. "Don't do anything rash…focus on saving Henry," she begged.

Emma stared intently at the wood cracks beneath her feet, and she pursed her lips. "Oh, I will," she was suddenly decided, "and I will _save you too_…ya know," she shrugged, "for good measure."

"Emma!" Regina warned. Her translucent eyes were swimming with disapproval but, also with relief and it was not missed by Emma.

"I can do it. I can fly…!" She remembered her earlier conversation with her mother.

"What?!"

She snapped her head up to stare at Regina and smirked. "I'm the _Savior_ and that's what I'm going to do: _Save_. Henry needs _you _too."

"You will be saving _The Evil Queen_," Regina cautioned.

"No I won't, I'll be _saving_ Regina Mills…just, _Regina_, a woman, and a mother and even…even a fr—"

Regina faded away before she could finish.

"A friend," Emma breathed.

Eventually, she turned back to the now risen sun with her new-found confidence and her glistening in her eyes.

**X**

Snow was upset that Emma hadn't had time to call her above deck while Regina was there but she also understood. Her daughter was barely done feeling shocked when Regina floated away just as quickly as she'd come.

Snow wished so desperately that she could be upset with her daughter for her new plan but, just as she could never bring herself to kill the Queen she could not bring herself _not_ to save her. And Emma was right about Henry: if they found him and told him he would never see his mother again his heart would probably shatter. They had the upper hand in that, they knew it was a trap and they knew it was meant to distract them from finding Henry and his rescue was still first priority.

"Won't they just kill her once we find him?" David had asked. "They will have no use for her once we've retrieved Henry."

"That's why we have to split up and find them both at the same time…," Emma explained. "Me and Snow will go looking for Regina, you, Rumple and Hook will go to find Henry."

"Rumple, how much do you know of this land?" Hook asked.

"Enough."

They were all below deck in a small room that contained barrels of weak beer. They talked in the dim light.

"Then it shall be him who goes with you." He turned to Emma.

"Why?"

"We need both groups to have someone who can navigate _Neverland_," he clarified.

"I don't think you should go at all…"

"David!" Snow scolded.

"No…I mean, we obviously _should_ save Regina but, _Emma_ shouldn't go, you and Hook perhaps…?"

"Why not?" She asked her father.

"I'm not leaving you again."

David ignored his wife. "Because, if," he swallowed, "if you don't succeed then Henry won't have _either _of his mothers."

"We will also have to build you a catamaran once we arrive on the island, I have some spare canvas for a sail. I would give you my ship but," he looked at Rumple, "_Crocodiles_ are not allowed on the _Jolly Roger…_unsupervised."

She considered David's words. "…o.k," she finally agreed. "Snow and Rumple will go with Hook's catama—whatever and— " she stopped suddenly when she noticed something.

A shadow, being cast by the waning lamp in the corner of the room, moved. It didn't just move, Emma noted, it moved itself. Every occupant of the ship was standing still, the barrels of beer had not budged, the lamp sat in the same place as It always did but, the shadow moved.

"What is it?" her father asked.

Emma looked up toward the ceiling, at her feet, to the side as the wheels in her head turned. Then, suddenly, her head snapped up to look at David. "Of course!"

"What?" they all said in unison.

"The shadows, I knew there was something weird about the shadows…one just moved."

"The lamps flicker, Dearie, shadows move."

"No, not like this, not like…like a ghost, a being, something that's…something _alive_."

They stared at her.

"Don't any of you remember how the cartoon _Peter Pan_ went?"

They were silent.

"Peter, he…he keeps trying to catch his shadow, it's running away from him…like it's a different being entirely and then Wendy offers to sew it back on for him."

They all looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"Hey," she defended, "I'm not the one who wrote it."

"So, what you're saying is…there is some truth to that interpretation? Shadows in this land are detached from our bodies?"

"No." Emma looked around. "No, we all have _our_ shadows but, maybe in this land, maybe shadows, other shadows aren't shadows at all but,…I don't know."

"Separate beings? Ghosts? Echoes?" Rumple tried.

"Yeah maybe…I don't know…."

"Well…," he addressed everyone, "it's not that unlikely…it stands to reason that lost souls could haunt the ship while it's in a magical land…but, for that, there would have to be lost souls."

Hook was staring at his feet, intent not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Hook," Charming bellowed.

He snapped his head up.

"What do you know?!"

Snow stood there quietly as she looked around at the barrels.

"I—"

"Beer," Mary-Margret began. Everyone looked up in surprise, as she hadn't spoken in a while. "…and hard-tack and citrus…all, uneaten," she continued, "tons of it…no one on the ship but you," she looked to Hook, "a huge vessel and _no_ crew. Where are they, Hook? Where is…well," she gestured to her empty surroundings, "_everyone_?"

Hook's face hardened. "They died," he said coldly.

"How?" David asked.

"A story for another time, Prince. We are soon approaching the "x" that marks the spot," he pointed to the dying lamp.

"I don't think so!"

"I doesn't matter! The point is that these…these shadows, they are what's left of my crew."

Charming just glared at him.

"It's a very long story…one that, I don't necessarily think is relevant to our expedition."

"Oh, I think it is…," Emma cut-in. "Because they are working with the Lost Boys."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…who else could have pushed Regina into the water, thrown me across the ship?"

"That's impossible," Hook exclaimed, "they are unable to move objects or touch anything."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

"Then why," she shrugged toward where the lamp was, "is that floating?"

Everyone gasped when they saw where she was looking.

"I think its best that we duck," Rumple said.

They all dove for the floor as the lamp went flying across the small room. It shattered violently with the wall and let out a burst of flame before they stood in complete darkness. Just as they all stood back up, their footing was lost. A large shutter racked the ship and a loud echo found its way to the pantry they were in.

"We're here," Hook said.

**X**

"Emma?"

They had arrived on the shore of the main island only an hour before and while everyone was gathering their weapons above deck, Emma was changing her clothes.

Regina's eyes scraped over her exposed chest and Emma followed her gaze. She turned around in shock.

"I'm sorry, _projection_ is a more unpredictable trick than I originally assumed…."

Emma turned back to her once she was fully dressed.

"We are—"

"On the island, I know."

"How—"

"I don't…I don't know. It's almost as if I can…I can _sense_ you. I don't know how or why…maybe…maybe, it's the after effects of us combining our magic."

"Huh…."

Regina looked at her sorrowfully.

"I know you're scared," Emma blurted out.

"I'm not—"

"Yes, you are. The Evil Queen might be fearless but, Regina isn't."

"I—"

"We are sending Snow and Rumple to come find you."

"You can't be serious…"

"I am."

"They are—"

"Your greatest enemies? I know. But, Snow…as crazy as it sounds…she, it's like she," Emma couldn't think how to explain herself.

"Cares about me."

"Yes."

"And Rumple?"

"Is _afraid_ of _me_."

"I think you are a bit too confident, Dear."

"Yeah well, you're entitled to _think_ whatever you want."

Regina rolled her translucent eyes. "Still, you shouldn't weaken your ability to find Henry just to retrieve me."

"I'm just," she sighed in frustration, "I'm just trying to do what I think he would want."

"And your insistence on fulfilling the ridiculous wishes of an eleven-year-old marks a fundamental difference between our parenting styles."

"Yup." She shrugged. "Too bad you're the one tied to a tree on some random island and I'm the one calling the shots."

"Emma—"

"Nope. Conversation is over."

"I don't think so…."

"I do."

"Why do you care?!" She suddenly broke down. Tears—evident only by the white streaks that appeared on her ghostly face—streamed from her eyes.

Emma was momentarily shocked like when someone picks up a toddler and they begin to cry. "Regina, why are you…?" She didn't know what to say.

"No one cares…so why do you? To make me feel more guilty for my choices than I already do?!"

She tilted her head sadly. "No…I—"

"You spent _so_ much time in Storybrooke trying to undermine my wishes and now you _give a shit_ all of the sudden?"

Emma had never heard Regina swear before. It unnerved her. "I didn't spend _any _of my time trying to undermine you, Regina. I was too busy trying to counter your attempts to _get rid of me_."

"Oh, I know, I'm a _terrible_ person. In fact, why bother saving me? So you can win points?"

"In what game?! I'm saving you because Henry would want me too and because I _do _care about you." Emma paled slightly when she heard her own admission.

Regina was silent. Her disbelief kept her quiet.

Emma waited.

"Then why did you _always_ fight with me?"

"You know…no wonder. No wonder you have done such horrible things….You have no concept of what other people feel! Caring doesn't equate to _agreeing_. You don't just agree with someone…not when you see their _potential_ and see the good in them. You don't just ignore that and say 'screw it, they are on their own.' You see that glimmer of hope and you latch onto it. Because, maybe…just, maybe that person could end up being absolutely amazing. "

Regina was stunned.

"And I don't bother with people I don't care about…at all. I don't fight with someone whose existence is inconsequential to me. I _fight_ with people I care about. Because, you know what? It's _so _difficult! It takes so much energy…energy that I wouldn't waste on just anyone."

"You show you care by arguing…I hardly think that's very evolved."

"Maybe it's not _fucking_ evolved! In an ideal world maybe we would all just be honest and transparent with our feelings but this isn't and ideal world! Maybe it's not evolved, but it's how _normal _people interact. It's how humans feel, how they handle their emotions. And, whether you know it or not, Regina, it's how you deal with things too!"

"That would imply that I am a 'normal person'."

"Yes, it would," Emma said simply.

"And, it would also mean that I care about you more than anyone else in Storybrooke, barring Henry."

"Yes, it would." Her voice quieted and she smirked.

"Oh _please_," Regina scoffed.

"The lady doth protest too much, _Madame Mayor_."

"You know Shakespeare, _Miss Swan_."

"You do?"

"Of course."

"He's from the real—from _my_ world."

"Twenty-eight years, Emma."

"Right," she nodded.

They couldn't help but smile at each other.

But, then, Regina's face fell. She was so scared, Emma could almost feel it. She could only hope that Regina trusted her enough, trusted that she would find her. That's when Emma realized what she needed to do.

"Can I touch you?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" Regina looked up.

"I mean—I—what I meant was—can you touch me?"

"What?!"

Emma was flustered. "I _mean_, can you touch things? Or, are you like a spirit?"

"Oh…I…don't know," she realized.

Emma reached across the cabin and swung her arm toward Regina's waist. It cut right through her like air rain through fog and Regina gasped.

"I suppose that answers your question." She faded away into nothingness.

Emma didn't know why but, she felt empty when Regina left. She had never really touched her, except to throw her angrily against walls and yet…not being able to touch Regina just then made her feel so alone that she was nauseous.

**X**

"I have to be the one to go and get Regina, no one else. And I have to do it alone," Emma said as she came up from the cabin.

"What?!" Snow asked.

"Why, Emma?" her father followed.

"Because I just...I _have_ to."

"You just spoke to Regina, didn't you?"

"Emma, must you always do whatever is contrary to her wishes? This is not the time to let your stubbornness mislead you."

"Regina," she said firmly, "doesn't even know that I've decided this."

"And why did you?" David tried again.

"Because…because, Henry knows that I love him, that I _care about _him and _he_ has always believed in me." The "unlike you," in her statement was implied. "And he knows that so many other people care about him too."

"If you really cared about him you—"

"I would go find his mother and _prove _to her once and for all that someone actually _gives a flying fuck what happens to her_!"

"We have—"

"No. You haven't and if you really want her to change, to stop being evil then she needs to know that someone is out there who _gets it_. She's an emotional woman, she's a passionate woman and, she sees the world—just like all of you do—in black and white. The only thing that will change that is someone _showing_ her that she's wrong."

"You can't go alone…."

"David!"

"She needs to do this, Snow. I think it's about time we started trusting our daughter."

"This is _my _battle."

"Yes, but, you can't navigate this land by yourself."

"We can draw a map."

"We can't," Hook chimed in. "This land is unpredictable…it…_moves_. The basic layout of each island is constant but the latitude and longitude of each is variable. The island you left Regina on has surely changed positioning by now."

Charming's face reddened and he grabbed Hook by the collar of his jacket. Every last shred of his patience had dissolved away. "Why didn't you tell us this when we left her?! You have proven, over and over to be nothing but a lying coward!" His spit flew onto Hook's face and he flinched away from it.

"You seemed adamant that she be exiled, It didn't occur to me to mention it." He said cockily.

"I '_didn't occur' to you? _Just like it didn't _occur_ to you that the Lost Boys might capture her?!"

"No," he smiled ruefully, "it didn't."

Charming threw him onto the deck and held his gaze as he gathered himself and stood.

"If I may," Gold interrupted, "your daughter has magic in her."

"What's your point?" David rounded on him.

"She can seek out Regina, if she is _taught_ how."

"And you will teach her?" Snow asked.

"Who else, Dearie?"

"I don't like this, I don't like this one bit." David was shaking his head furiously.

"David it's our only choice…."

"And why is that, Snow? It seems to me that these two, _repeatedly _withhold information from us."

"Well villains don't often make it their habit to reveal their knowledge to just anyone, let alone their enemies," Gold defended.

"But, whether you like it or not, we are you allies now."

"Mary-Margret is right," Emma said.

"Then, you must trust me, Miss Swan," he turned to look at just her, "as your ally."

Charming glowered at him but, Emma just nodded. "O.k."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for all the new follows! Please let me know what you think in the review section or by PM! There is a lot more action in this chapter and I think it officially earns the "M" rating due to the violence. Swan Queen toward the end and then, without giving too much away, within another chapter are so pretty much the rest of the story will be Swan Queen. I borrowed the name and characteristics for "Rufio" from the film **_**Hook**_** directed by Steven Spielberg and written by James V. Hart and Nick Castle (Rufio was played by Dante Basco). **_**Hook**_** is one of my favorite films and I have already referenced it heavily in the story so far. I highly recommend it. Also, if you haven't noticed already with names like "Riaman" I'm using Gaelic to come up with names for different things. **

I Taught You Well

"Water's the safest mode of travel if you want to avoid the Lost Boys."

"Well we can hardly take a boat to the _center_ of an island. Can we?"

"I wasn't finished, _Crocodile_," Hook sneered.

"By all means," Gold waved his hand, "continue."

"There is a network of tunnels below the island. It's how many have escaped Peter before. It was dug by the fairies in-order to protect us, it's cloaked with magic and Peter has yet to find it."

"Fairies? Like _Tinker Bell_?" Emma asked.

"Fairies, yes. Tinker Bell, no. She was one of J. M. Barrie's inventions…a character meant to represent the whole of the fairy nation. They tinker…like bells...when they are happy…its rare."

"There is a _whole nation_ of them?" Charming asked.

"There was at one time…they are more like wood nymphs."

"Peter hasn't killed them?" Snow asked.

"Not all of them…he needs the nature of the land to survive. It provides him shelter, food…if he killed all of them, the land would die."

They all processed the new information. They were above deck. After the lamps had burned out, there was no more light below the ship. Hook was not happy about the exposed position, the Lost Boys had already, surely, noticed their presence. They watched their shore carefully and they hadn't acted yet but they would. Everyone was sitting ducks.

"They never did bend to his will though…," Hook continued.

"Why don't they just threaten to stop tending to the land…until Peter agrees to let the Boys go?" Emma asked.

"Because, they would die if they chose to stop tending the land and clapping doesn't save them, I wish it did and if they died not only would they not be there to ensure that Peter fulfills their wishes but, the Boys would die along with him."

"The Wicked Witch? Maleficent? They were helped by the fairies?"

"Yes, little did they know what those children would become…."

"So they are 'good'?" Rumple asked.

"Good in a sense yes. They fight evil although…you should know better than anyone that 'good' and 'evil' are ridiculous and insufficient categories."

"That is true, Pirate."

"They are mischievous as well. It's how they often out-smart Peter Pan. And they _do _have fairy-dust and it _can_ make people fly, if the fairies will it."

"Is that how they've hidden the underground path-ways?"

"Yes, the soil that forms the floors of the tunnels was raked with the dust, as was the sand above the tunnels. It's not hidden entirely it's just designed so Peter never looks at it or for it too closely."

"Like a _perception filter_?"

"What?"

They all looked at Emma.

She shrugged. "Ya know? _Doctor Who_?"

They simply stared.

"God, you guys really didn't do _anything_ in Storybrooke, did you?"

"Yes, it filters his perception," Rumple put them back on track.

"What is the dust from?" Snow asked.

"Well, it's not mined by dwarves."

She rolled her eyes.

He narrowed his. "What exactly did you do with seven little men, Princess?"

Charming glared at him.

"They get it from the water. They boil it down and the dust is left."

"Like salt from sea-water."

"Exactly. This is not fresh-water, nor is it salt-water—although it might taste like it—its magic-water."

"So how do we get to these tunnels?" Charming asked.

"We have to go through the fairy nest: where the 'x' marks the spot."

"So that wasn't just some clichéd, pirate joke? There actually is an 'x'?" Emma joked.

Hook didn't see the humor. "Yes, how else would they remember the location of the entrance?" He said seriously.

"No idea," Emma said sarcastically. She shook her head and laughed.

They ignored her. "Where is the fairies' nest?" Rumple asked.

"It used to be in the hollow trunk of the oldest tree on the island but, Peter raided it long before the path-ways were even dug. Now it's in a sand-bar just to the west." He pointed. "Underground."

"How do they breathe?"

"An air pocket that a—an old friend, a mermaid made for them."

"Mermaids are evil," Snow said.

"Your absolutism is tiring."

"Ditto."

"_Emma_?"

"It is!" she defended, "everything is so black and white with you."

"Not all mermaids are evil, even by your standards and _all_ mermaids hate the family Riaman, it's an ancient rivalry about who controls _Neverland_ or _Never Neverland_, as the mermaids prefer to call it. Poseidon insists that his family—the _Unicbri—_are the rightful rulers of_ Neverland_. My point is that the mermaids and the fairies are _both_ enemies of Peter and therefore have an alliance. They do not feed on the fairies' magic and the fairies do not disrupt the plant life that populates the sea-floor."

"Well isn't that precious," Gold teased.

"Poseidon, as in God-of-the-Sea?"

"Sort of."

"And he's, like, Ariel's dad right?"

"Yes."

"Wait so she's _real_?" Emma beamed.

"Yes," Hook said through clenched teeth.

She didn't ask any more questions.

He turned to the group. "Our first goal is to make it to the sand-bar without being _killed_."

Just as he said it an arrow flew toward Mary-Margaret's head. Emma grabbed her shoulders and yanked her to the ground just in time. The arrow cut through the sail with a _whoosh_ and then, with a _pop_, stuck into the wood next to the cabin entrance. The minute Snow stood back up she whipped her bow out and pointed it in the direction the arrow had come from.

She saw a small, red-cheeked boy with dusty-blonde hair peek out from behind a palm trunk. Her heart melted as he pouted at her.

"Shoot him!" Hook screamed.

"I can't!"

"He's not really a boy!"

"I can't!"

"_Snow…!" _Charming pleaded.

She released the arrow and it arched toward the boy. It caught in his upper arm and blood began to poor onto his bare skin. A tear slipped down Snow's cheek. He grabbed his arm and ran away as he screamed, "Shit! Fucking bitch!" The fact that it wasn't exactly the whining, immature sob that Snow had expected made her feel slightly better but his high-pitched voice disturbed everyone.

Charming had his sword drawn but the next few moments were quieter than expected. "That's it?" He slipped his sword back in its sheath.

"For now."

"I think this might be of some interest." Everyone looked to Gold, who had snuck over to where the arrow landed during the commotion.

They noticed what he meant when they approached. A piece of warn paper was stuck to the wall with the tip of the arrow. "I hadn't noticed that when it was flying toward my head," Snow commented.

Hook ripped it down and began to read.

_My Beautiful Boy,_

_It's a pleasure to see you again. I taught you well, I see. Even as my enemy I can't help but admire you. My pride has not been lost despite your disloyalty. I look forward to meeting face-to-face. _

_With Respect,_

_You-Know-Who_

"No," Hook whispered. He dropped the paper and it floated to the ground. Then, he fell to his knees and sobbed into his hands. It was the first time he had broken down.

Charming picked it up and when he read its contents he placed a strong hand on Hook's shoulder and handed the paper to his wife.

**X**

"You don't have to." Snow assured him.

"I must," Hook responded. "Now that he knows we are here it is the only distraction that will afford you all safe passage to the nest."

"Thank you," Charming said sincerely. He picked up Hook's cutlass and handed it to him with a nod. Hook nodded back and walked into the island, ready to meet his mentor of so many years.

**X**

They all re-boarded the ship and examined the map Hook had drawn them.

"Once we find the nest I will teach you how to transport yourself to Regina," Rumple promised Emma.

"Right now we are too exposed," Charming added.

"Let's go then," Emma said. She rolled up the map and cradled it under her arm.

Charming was the first to jump over the edge of the boat and back onto the beach. Then he unsheathed his sword. Behind him Emma jumped out, gun in hand. Then Rumple, cane poised and then Snow, bow tucked under her arm and arrows on her back.

"O.k," Emma holstered her gun and unrolled the map, squinting at it in the afternoon sun, "we have to head straight," she pointed, "toward that tree with the weird rings around it….I wonder why he doesn't just have us go left rather than _through_ the—oh."

"What?"

"Coastal outpost that way, we would be walking right into their territory," she explained.

"Great." Snow rolled her eyes.

They began in the direction Emma had pointed.

"O-lo-lo! Rufio! Rufio! Rufio-oh!" They heard children's voices scream from above.

"Ay, Ay, get the intruders who came with the Hook!" A girl's voice commanded.

"Get the intruders who came with the Hook!" they chanted in return.

"Uh oh."

A tan boy that stood about six-feet tall jumped down directly in front of David. He flinched back in surprise.

"You came with the pirate, enemy of Pan, you will be killed for his crimes." His voice was surprisingly deep; it was a contrast to his smooth and soft face. He couldn't have been more than fourteen although lean muscles showed beneath his torn red tunic and black shorts.

Charming stared into his dark eyes. "I will never answer for the crimes of that idiot," Charming announced. And, that was it. Rufio swung his machete toward David's head.

David was quick to block it with his own sword and then made a swing towards the boy's thin neck. The boy ducked and avoided it. He wasted no time stabbing toward Charming on his way up but, David jumped back and then swung again. They dueled for a while, neither really gaining any ground and then Emma jumped in. She swung a fist toward the boy and although he avoided it, it gave David an opening. As Rufio leaned away from Emma's swing, Charming sliced his knees as they jutted out. He collapsed to the ground and screamed in pain as his blood mixed with the white sand.

"No!" a small voice cried.

Suddenly arrows began to fly through the air as the rest of the boys descended.

"Damn it!" Emma leaned back and then forward avoiding arrows. Snow pulled out her own arrow and tried to focus her aim. As soon as she caught them, like bottles lined up to be shot, she fired, reloaded and fired and kept firing faster than Emma could even comprehend. They fell down in heaps one after another, none fatally shot but, all fairly warned.

"They're going to start using magic…," Gold warned.

"We will _kill_ you!" screamed a young blonde girl. She swung down on a thick vine. Emma whipped out her gun and shot at the vine. It split and the girl fell to the ground. She yelped and Gold hit her in the back of the neck with his cane. She fell on her face, unconscious.

"Roll her over!" Charming warned, "She needs to breathe."

Emma grabbed her light white shirt and pulled her over so she was laying on her back. She looked so young. It was a light night-gown, Emma realized. The girl had been taken from her bed. A tear slipped down her cheek as she stared at the limp girl.

"Stop!" she bellowed.

No one turned to her, they were busy avoiding arrows. "What?!"

"We can't let our defenses down."

"How do we know they aren't new? How do we know some aren't still kids?"

"Their ability to fight, Emma," Gold explained, "they are far too experienced. Learning to fight like this takes years."

"Emma, Gold is right," Snow agreed, "don't let them trick you!"

"Emma, look out!" Charming yelled. He was staring over her shoulder. She turned to see a dark-haired boy with curls and olive skin, no more than six, swinging a rock toward her head. She aimed her gun right at his face, everything happening too quickly for her to consider her reaction, she fired.

The gun only made a clicking noise. She dipped her head to the side to avoid the rock. "I'm out of bullets." She dropped the gun and kicked the boy in the groin. He recoiled and she grabbed his arms, holding him tight. Something Hook had said entered her mind. Something about how they used to cry themselves to sleep when one of their own died. They _cared_ about _each other. _

"Alright! Listen up," she announced. "Dad?" David turned. "Hold your sword to this boy's neck." Her father complied. The boy struggled in her grip. "You hurt us…he dies."

That was all the fear she needed to instill within them for them to start using their magic. Rufio groaned from his place on the ground and lifted his hand above his head. He conjured a fire ball. It flickered in his hand, the fumes disrupting the surrounding air. He threw it toward Snow. She moved but not quickly enough and her arm was badly burned. Tears sprang to her eyes but she kept fighting. She kicked away an approaching child and then grabbed her arm.

"Snow!" Charming cried and began to run toward her. It distracted him long enough that a little girl was able to wave her hand and freeze him in his tracks. She was about to smash him into a million sharp pieces when Rumple waved his cane and un-froze the prince. He continued to run to his wife but a little dark-skinned boy blocked his path and put up a crackling and barely perceptible electric barrier between him and his wife. At the same time, a boy came up behind Emma and started a blazing fire beneath her feet. She jumped away from the heat but, it just re-lit and she kept trying to avoid it.

_Is this what it feels like to dance in iron shoes?_ she wondered.

She thought she would die here and she so wished that Regina could see, could see that it's not always the Evil that have the unhappy ending. She couldn't die, she needed to save Regina and Henry.

Suddenly a light mist fell upon her face, her arms and all her exposed skin.

_Am I dying?_ she thought.

No, was the answer. It wasn't the calming seeds of poppies that sedated her but, the bright and crisp snow of Glinda the Good Witch, waking her up and giving her hope. Her feet finally felt cool again. She looked up to the sky and saw the most beautiful sight. What looked like glitter, no, like little beads of glass fell between the thick and damp palm fronds. The dimming island sun made the droplets glisten. Then one caught in her eye and she looked down and blinked.

"Fairy dust," Gold explained. Everyone looked around. The army of children was frozen in their place.

"Their magic has been disabled momentarily, we must continue on toward the nest," a light voice chimed. They all followed it to the sky. Floating above them was what looked like a little mini human. She was gorgeous, all four inches of her. Dressed in a green tunic, wings fluttering swiftly, was a little fairy, a nymph really.

They all felt drunk at her shimmering beauty. She rolled her eyes, used to the reaction. "You must follow me," she insisted.

She flew into the forest and they all began to follow her. Snow was clutching her arm and Charming came up behind her. He grabbed her shoulders and put and arm under her knees. She was quickly swept into his arms and she gazed up into his eyes.

"You should rest, we will fix you up when we get where we need to go," he soothed.

Gold limped along and Emma ran after the pretty creature like a child dashing toward the ice-cream truck.

**X**

They didn't encounter anymore kids on their way to the sand-bar. This surprised Gold.

"They do not hurt the fairies, even if it means defying Peter Pan," their escort explained, "we are like their mothers…their older sisters. We patch their wounds, we love them unconditionally." She was sorrowful.

Emma had finally settled down and was sitting on a pile of fronds in the corner of their nest. The fairy had introduced herself as Darma. The other fairies looked very similar to Darma, they all floated around, never seeming to tire of flapping their wings and they were all platinum blonde with eyes so blue and skin so pale that they were almost see through.

"No boys?" Emma questioned as she looked up at the creature buzzing above her head.

"No. No need for them. We grow from the magical tree bark."

"You're wood that comes alive?"

"Yes."

"Like Pinocchio?"

"Who is that? I haven't heard of her."

Emma just laughed and Darma floated away.

Gold, for his part, had healed Mary-Margret and her and David were passed out in another area of the nest. When they arrived at the sand-bar, stretching out far into the sea as it narrowed to a point Emma wondered how it would work. The bar was almost entirely covered by water. But, when Darma whistled as small bit of the water was parted. Emma's Moses jokes were ignored and they all stepped over the area of sand that Darma insisted was an air pocket.

Their breath was stolen from their lungs when they fell through what they thought was solid ground. Their feet landed not too long after, though, on soft sand. The inside of the nest was dim, with a few floating lights that almost looked like fire-flies dancing around the ceiling. Leaf cushions were strewn about but, it was mainly just a really well-decorated hovel. Emma suddenly had to pee, badly.

"Um, Darma?"

"Yes?"

"Um…bathroom?"

"Oh," she pointed toward a small break in the wall of sand. "Giant's accommodations are through there, just keep walking until you come to a cross-hallway, go to the _right_ and the door to the toilet will be on you _left_."

Emma scoffed. "Giants? Trust me, I've met a giant…we are _not_ giants…."

Darma just shrugged and Emma started toward the bathroom.

**X**

Emma found it easily enough. She squatted over the hole in the earth and did her business. There was a pile of soft leaves left as toilet paper. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to pretend she wasn't wiping herself with greener. She pulled up her pants and headed back to the main room. She did intend to go back…and then her curiosity go the better of her. She traveled down the left side of the second hallway this time.

She walked for what seemed like ages and nothing appeared out of the sand walls. Then, to her left was a sand archway, she stepped through, it was dark but when she walked past the threshold more of the fire-fly-like lights ignited.

"Huh." There seemed to be nothing but sand, yet again. And then, her gaze fell to the floor. Drawn into the sand was a large, red "x."

_The "x" that marks the spot. Of course. Hook said the route started here._

"Where are we?"

Emma looked up again and Regina stood in front of her. "A start to some underground tunnels."

"Tunnels used by Peter Pan?"

"No by the fairies to save the Lost Boys, well Lost _Kids_."

"Hmm."

"I have so much to tell you…."

"It's a pity…"

"What?"

"I was hoping it was a buried treasure," she sighed.

Emma couldn't help but giggle. "You know…I needed that."

"What happened? Do you have any more clues as to where our son might be?"

"No but, I had to fight with little kids…"

"Do tell."

Emma slumped to the sand floor and crossed her legs, Regina mimicked her position and Emma couldn't help but indulge in the rare sight of casual, Indian-style, Regina before she began. She told Regina all that she remembered from the battle. Regina stopped her when she got to the part about Snow being injured.

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah…Gold healed her. You don't really care anyway…do you?"

"You know, I think I might…."

Emma went on to further describe some of the children and finished the story.

"I think I've seen some of them here." Regina commented.

"You mean the kids that I described?"

"Yes."

Emma sucked in a swift and excited breath. "Maybe that means your not that far away after all."

"I think the islands move…."

"They do, that's what Hook said."

"So don't get too hopeful. I might have been a minute from where you are at one point but, I could be back where the island originally was the first time. Your parents left me miles back."

Emma's face fell. "Yeah, well it doesn't matter, I will find you anyway."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Gold is going to teach me how to use my magic to transport myself to you."

Regina tilted her head in surprise. "You hate magic."

"I never said that…."

"I could see it in your eyes whenever we worked together, its uncomfortable for you…."

"Am I that obvious?"

"No, I'm just perceptive."

Emma looked down and fiddled with her thumbs.

"Please, don't come for me—"

"Regina, give up…I told you, I am coming to get you, it's not a discussion."

"That was before you decided to use magic. You will drain yourself, you need that energy to save Henry. And if you travel by magic no one will be able to accompany you."

Emma looked at her as if to say "exactly."

"Oh, Emma, you…you'll die," she whined. Her hands flew out in frustration.

"No, I won't."

"You're an idiot. Just like all Charmings…."

"You've already said that. I get it. The horse is dead."

"It's not a joke!"

"Maybe not to you."

Regina had no response and she simply sat there. She decided to open up a new topic after a few moments. "I have no concept of time when I'm like this," she waved toward her superficial form.

"Time?" Emma asked. "I have to go! I was just supposed to be in the bathroom, they must be worried sick."

They both stood up quickly. "I'll walk you."

Emma looked her up and down and finally agreed. "O.k."

They turned toward the door.

"It's just this way." Emma began walking.

They walked for what seemed to Emma like too long. She couldn't have forgotten the way, she reasoned in her head. It was just a right out the door and then another right when they found the main hallway. But, they hadn't found the main hallway and it had been a while.

"Where is this hallway?"

"I—" Emma began to panic. "I thought it was—no."

"Emma?"

She was getting very worried, the sand felt like it was about to slide down on top of her head like an avalanche. She started to hyper ventilate.

_What if we never find our way out? I'll just die here a and rot into a skeleton. Oh God!_

"Emma!"

She looked toward Regina.

"You need to calm down."

She tried to take a deep breath.

"What did you say about these tunnels being hidden from Pan?"

"They—fairy dust—it's like a perception filter…."

"And the fairies built these tunnels?"

"Yes."

"Of course," Regina realized.

"What?!"

She looked at Emma. "Fairies, well these fairies are natives of _Neverland,_ a place that shifts its composition constantly. What better way could they think of to add an extra layer of protection to the tunnels than to make them shift? They shift on a pattern, I'm sure, on a sort-of timer that only the fairies have memorized."

"Well that's just great!" Emma threw her arms down. "Because, we're fairies, right? So we should be able to find our way out?!"

Regina tried to grab Emma's shoulders and ground her but all Emma felt was a light breeze and she shivered. She couldn't actually touch anything or anyone, she remembered.

"Emma!"

She snapped her head up.

"You need to calm down, I'm here," she soothed. "I'm not going to leave you until you are out of these tunnels, ok?"

She waited for Emma, staring reassuringly at her eyes. "O.K."

"Now, I'm going to get you out of this…."

"How?"

"I am going to leave—"

"You just said—"

She put a hand up to silence Emma. "I will come right back, I'm just going to try and warn the others about your situation and get them to send a fairy. Then, I promise, I _will_ be back."

"How will you know where to find them?"

"Snow. We used to communicate this way, maybe I can find her."

Emma's eyes widened.

"I will find her," she amended, "and then I will come back to you."

"How will you get back?"

"How did I get here in the first place? I didn't even know it existed. I told you, I can _sense_ you."

Emma nodded and Regina faded away, leaving her alone in the dim corridor.

**A/N: I thought it was about time that Regina saved Emma and not the other way around. We won't really see Hook until his story re-connects with Emma and Regina's story because this is about Swan Queen after all. We also are preparing to say goodbye to the others in the next chapter and they will also become important again in relation to Regina and Emma. Coming up…some Snow and Regina bonding. **


End file.
